Commercial aircraft are provided with galleys so that passengers can be served food in-flight and with lavatories so that passengers can take care of their biological needs. Galleys and lavatories also serve as boundaries between different seating sections in an aircraft. Thus, galleys and lavatories are frequently located between the first class and business sections and between the business and coach sections on many commercial aircraft.
During the lifetime of an aircraft, an airline may want to periodically change the configuration of an aircraft and/or change the number of seats available in each cabin section. For example, there may be times during the year that an airline would want to increase the number of available first class seats by reducing the size of the coach section. At other times, the airline may want a larger number of coach seats at the expense of the first class seats. There are even instances when an airlines may want to remove all seats in a section in order to create a lounge section.
Whenever an aircraft is reconfigured, it is desirable to move the galleys and lavatories in order to establish the desired boundaries and establish the appropriate effect in the aircraft cabin. In many current aircraft, relocating these units to the desired locations can be a difficult, if not impossible, task. These units are typically secured to complementary fittings integral with floor beams and overhead fuselage sections. Unbolting and resecuring the units typically involves a significant amount of manual labor with persons having to work above and below the main cabin floor of the aircraft. Moreover, galleys and lavatories can only be relocated to locations where there are complementary fittings. Thus, if an airlines wants to reposition a galley or a lavatory by only a seat row or two, and the aircraft is not provided with the complementary fittings at the new location, the unit cannot be moved to the desired location.
Still another factor that limits the ability to relocate aircraft galleys and lavatories is the availability of utility service connections. Air, water, and electrical power typically all have to be supplied to galleys and lavatories. Waste water must be drained from these units. Galleys and lavatories must be located near the inlet and outlet connections for the air, water and electrical service systems. Some aircraft have a few spaced outlet and inlet air, water and electrical couplings that allow some variation in where galleys and lavatories can be located. However, in these aircraft, the units cannot be located far from the inlet and outlet couplings. This restricts the ability to relocate the units to all but a few specific locations.